Super Vegan Sunflower Cheese Nachos

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This Saturday was something of a cooking extravaganza around here. I had a ton of fresh produce, including 2 pints of tomatoes and 3 bunches of fresh parsley, that called to me from the fridge. It was clearly nacho time!

I’ve been on sort of a nacho kick lately! OK, really, I should say I’ve been on sort of a cheese kick lately after remembering how easy it is to whip up a batch of fake cheese in the food processor. Since I’d just made a big batch of cashew sauce last week, I decided to try mixing things up a bit and make sunflower cheese instead. It was delicious! Perfect for nachos to go along with Saturday night movie marathon with my hubby.

The nachos were so easy to make:

1. Line a cookie sheet with foil.
2. Spread out a layer of chips.
3. Add any veggies you like (arugula or spinach goes nicely), and top with sunflower cheese (recipe below).
4. Stick the chips in the oven on 350F for 5-10 minutes, keeping an eye on things to make sure they don’t burn.
5. Serve topped with black bean salsa (recipe also below)!

If you’re in a hurry, you could use store-bought faux cheese and salsa, but it’s so satisfying to make your own! For a single serving of nachos, you can even make these in the toaster oven to save a little energy and keep from heating up the whole house. Caution: They take a bit less time in the toaster, so be extra diligent about keeping an eye! You just want to heat up the chips, veggies, and cheese!

Sunflower Cheese
1c raw sunflower seeds, soaked for at least an hour, drained
1c water
2T olive oil
1c green olives
1/2c nutritional yeast
1/2c fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic

Put everything in the blender or food processor and whizz until smooth. It took a bit longer to blend up than I thought it would, so be generous! Just keep tasting until it’s a nice, creamy texture.

Black Bean Salsa
2c tomato, finely diced (I used grape tomatoes, but whatever you have on hand should work just fine.)
1/4c red onion, finely diced
1/2c parsley, chopped (You can also do half parsley and half cilantro, if you like!)
juice of 1 lime
1 can black beans, drained
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (If you like your salsa hot, leave in some of the seeds. Otherwise, compost those suckers!)

Combine all your ingredients, mixing everything up really well. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

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